


A Hero in Hatsville

by deciBelx



Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, Blood and Injury, F/F, F/M, Hatsville will always be evil, How Do I Tag, Implied Torture, Interrogation, Olivia tries but fails a bunch of stuff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible torture, Slow Burn, There will be needles and pathogens, actual kidnapping, ambushes, and blood drinking but that's a separate character, and villainous, backstories, guns and gunshots, murder I suppose, some attempted humour (I think...), some mild swearing, villainous encounters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-08-05 07:32:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16363574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deciBelx/pseuds/deciBelx
Summary: Hatsville may look like your typical urban metropolis but underneath the skyscrapers and houses lies a lightly facaded world of villainy. Many heroes have tried so desperately to liberate it from the clutches of evil, but it doesn't help that the place was made by a pure being of it. What happens when you add a stubborn heroine and an aloof villain? Well a bunch of stuff which will be in here of course!





	1. First Day

_1990_

_“Greetings miss Aria, first of all I must send my felicitations regarding your recent engagement to one of your colleagues, Adam Arundel also known as the Uplifter, correct? Such a happy occasion should be celebrated with joy but, as we both know, he went missing a few days ago. Not to worry! He’s right here! For his release, all I ask for is 10 million dollars and a full year of immunity, I need a holiday... You have 24 hours to lay the sum or try to get him. Otherwise, Adam will make a fine test subject...”_

_“KATHY, DO- ”_

 

Kathy Aria was still in shock after viewing a tape that was sent to her home. Her fiancé was alive but being held hostage by Dr. Plague. Even worse, he knows their identities. Why be surprised? He used to be right next to Black Hat... The video was chilling with the doctor’s nonchalant expression, or tone of voice since his face was entirely concealed by a plague doctor mask, while her fiancé writhed in panic. Another lab rat-to-be. Kathy knew that she wouldn’t be able to come up with a decent plan at the moment in such an emotional state, so she grabbed her coat and the tape and headed to the headquarters of the Department of Security.

 

_Present_

“-And that wraps up the tour of the building, any questions?”

Olivia could hardly contain her glee and vigorously shook her head and said a simple “no” and “thank you”. Finally, after twelve long years of being a simple sidekick to gain experience as most did, Olivia Arundel could now be a REAL hero. It had always been a dream of hers to follow the footsteps of her parents and rid the world of evil. Villains and corruption in general were all that stood in the way and frankly, she KNEW that that wasn’t going to be a large problem. She’d seen the usual “I know there’s good left in you” scenario play out too many times, and they all failed. Villain were a lost cause, if they turned to that path then there’s no going back. She was always puzzled by why someone would think that going down that path, although a fair few were a bit confused due to past experiences, quite a number of them seem to have no motive besides greed, and it was infuriating. They are the ones who roam around the streets without giving a damn about anyone else. In fact, she’d been so caught up in her thoughts that she almost missed what the guide had said.

“You’ll be paired up with a more experienced hero, Pyrofighter, for a month so that settling in can be easier and for security reasons. He’ll help take care of assignments and confrontations for you,”

 

She was a bit shocked by that. Her parents never mentioned that before.

 

“I’m sorry but this is the same of being a sidekick again,” she said with as much restraint she can muster, her words seething through clenched teeth. “Something which I’ve already done for 12 years...”

 

The guide simply chuckled.

“Oh no no no, it’s not like that. See, Hatsville is such a dangerous place for heroes, so in order to try and decrease casualties, we’ve tried to create buddy system of sorts. Safety in numbers, y’know?”

 

Olivia sighed and simply nodded her head. The guide then left her to her own devices to wait in a waiting area outside some of the offices. He said that Pyrofighter would be here soon. The time is 11:46am, I’ve already been here for over 2 hours. What now? Another debriefing? Oh! Maybe an assignment! That’d be fun!

“You must be TranQuillity!” Her thoughts were interrupted by man in a black t-shirt, turnout pants and black rubber boots who had stepped out one of the offices. This must be Pyrofighter, the stylised logo of a torch with a P and F on each side was the main giveaway. He couldn’t have been more than a few years older than her. He took off one of gloves and held out his hand “I’m Pyrofighter, but you can just call me Felix when off duty.” Olivia thought he seemed nice enough and returned his gesture with a firm shake.

“Olivia,” She replied, “So what’s the grand plan for the day?”

 

“Well...” Pyrofighter, or Felix she supposed, contemplated for a moment and pursed his lips, before seeming to have an answer. “Why don’t we go roam around Hatsville? Not necessarily chasing any supervillains, but we’ll check for any petty crimes. Plus, it’ll help you get used to the area and getting lost won’t be your largest worry. What do you say?”

 

Olivia couldn’t disagree with that even if she tried. The villains she would deal with would almost definitely be more familiar with the city than her and could use that to their advantage.

“Fair enough, I gotta say, it’s pretty good that you can think ahead,” with a grin, she matched Felix’s expression who whooped with joy,

“Well, let’s go then!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooooo! First fic on AO3! Anyways, I’ll try to update as often as I can but I can’t make guarantees because school whoops. Idk what to type here so have this, this is gonna centre around more minor villains and heroes (although Dr Plague is p well known in this universe being BH’s former scientist, although most don’t really think of him that much since he isn’t the most active). That is all I have to say for now!


	2. A Stroll Through Hatsville

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walks can be relaxing

It was a sunny day. The hum of cars and chatter backdropping people going on about in their daily lives. The two had donned their outfits for the outing, Felix adding a turnout jacket and a fire helmet with a black visor to his current outfit and Olivia changing into a deep sky-blue suit with white gloves and boots that matched a short cape and mask that resembled a pair of wings. Olivia had been in the city a few times, she grew up in the suburbs that fringe the capital but didn’t guarantee that she’d have no worries navigating the city. Fortunately, she had Felix to help her familiarise with her surroundings. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all...Her mother said she was the stubborn type and she was right. It wasn’t always a bad thing, in fact it’s probably why she managed to get this far, but in hindsight, maybe she shouldn’t have gotten so worked up about being paired up for a month. 

“So, tell me Pyro,” Olivia started, “What got you into heroism?” 

He whistled a falling sound while contemplating.

“Well, morals I guess,” he shrugged, “I mean, what decent person wouldn’t wish for a less chaotic world? Sure, it provides journalists a living and security breaches can help people find the flaws in their systems, but it can be scary. Not to mention, people will just gradually start to care less as they get more and more disaster fatigued and when that happens, will they bother to help each other?” For a moment, his brown eyes flickered a bright orange as he envisioned such a world. “The whole world would just crumble... But that aside, finding out I have powers was the catalyst. I was, what? Two perhaps? Apparently, I was really hungry as well as impatient while my mother was preparing dinner and had to check one of the pots nearby, there was a chunk of fresh pork on the counter which I promptly grabbed with my bare hands and started chowing down on once it started burning!” Olivia couldn’t help but chuckle at that. The image of a much younger Felix vigorously chewing on nearly overcooked meat was hilarious. 

“Did you set off the fire alarms?” She joked,

“Well... if my mother counts then yes. Apparently, there was someone with powers in the family a while ago but it was a secret and they didn’t want to speak of it again.” Felix’s expression became distant as looked at his hands, “Everyone was scared to an extent since fire was such a destructive force, but we made it work. If it helps, the family name literally translates to ‘burn’ so I’m surprised they didn’t see it coming at some point.”

 —

“EVERYBODY RUN! GET INSIDE QUICKLY! BLACK HAT’S HERE!”

Honestly, the number of citizens who seemed oblivious to the origins of the city was astonishing, but it was still flattering and delightful to detect the fear of the residents. Black Hat went on strolls every now and then to both take a break from the idiots inside the mansion as well as check how much evil and chaos is in Hatsville as of late. He knew from experience that some days were more spontaneous than others so when things got too quiet for his liking, he’d exit the gates of the mansion and enter the streets. He didn’t need bodyguards or anything, so his own personal safety was of little concern if he happened to walk into a car driving 80km an hour. He was invincible, there was no doubt about it. It got boring after a while, but chaos was often the cure, albeit a temporary one but a cure nonetheless. Sometimes it was in the form of tormenting his employees, other times it was advertising a new product but times like these? Just striking fear in the hearts of people and contributing to the decrease of heroes in Hat Island. At least the decrease in morale amongst heroes is starting to stop them from spreading more of their filthy goodness… The only good they need is good riddance…  Black Hat couldn’t help but grin at the progress of the heroes’ pathetic attempts to stop him. It was adorable, they thought a small website that had dancing was going to work, really? He couldn’t be bothered to personally deal with them, so he set El Alebrije on them. From what he gathered, there were only two of them left. He turned a corner and grinned at the unexpected sight of two familiar faces. 

“Well greetings doctor, it’s been a while hasn’t it?”

 —

Olivia and Felix couldn’t have been more than a kilometre away from the Department of Security when they stopped all of a sudden. Olivia, confused, asked,

“What’s going on?” To which her companion put a finger to his lips. Motioning to follow him they crouched behind a building. He took a small peek from its edge. Olivia took a look as well. Then she realised what the problem was. 

“We need to get out of here,” Felix whispered, “If we don’t then we’re as good as dead.”

“Is that-?”

“Dr. Plague as well? Yes,” he squinted, “I’m not sure about the kid next to him, it’s hard to tell but there’s no sign of any struggling so I’d say either a sidekick or his kid…”

“WHAT?” Of course, screaming that out would be an awful mistake so she whisper-shouted it.

“Yeah, I haven’t heard any news about any option, so this is a bit of a shock too.”  
“Are you crazy?! He obviously kidnapped and brainwashed the kid ages ago!”

Felix sighed, “Look, we can’t do anything at the moment, the villain of villains is over there, if we try then we can kiss life and sanity goodbye.”

Olivia knew he was right,  _Besides,_ she thought,  _if we tell HQ then maybe they’ll assign us to them._ She didn’t even realise she was staring until she saw the doctor return her gaze. She already knew that he was the one that kidnapped her father, but she didn’t know how chilling the emotionless mask looked. Thankfully, Felix had dragged her away and they were both very much on their way.

“Is something the matter doctor?”

The aforementioned Dr. Plague simply turned his head back to face his former employer and gave his adopted daughter’s wing thumb a squeeze,

“Nothing of any concern at the moment, sir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned out to take a little bit longer than expected BUT we finally have the doctor. Also thank you for reading and the guest that has left kudos, it means a lot to me and ends up being a p big source of motivation. Coming up next, assignments from work and school and more!


	3. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here you'll find mealing, reminiscing and scheming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops sorry this took a week to update, I kinda lost motivation somewhere along the way haha, hopefully it won't take too long next time but exams are a thing. Anyways, thanks to everyone who's reading! Feel free to leave some feedback if you want or whatever, it's all appreciated ^^

“So, what was it like working for Black Hat?”

Brainard has long taken off his mask by this stage and set a large bowl of roasted mealworm salad down.

“Hell,” he chuckled, “not always, but for the most part Lord Black Hat was hard to please. Stress combined with his wrath was scary but somehow I made it work. However, the pay was astounding and you could get whatever you wanted so long as it's useful for work, like a test subject or a weapon for hero extermination.” Macalla was always the curious type, bless her. She had already asked this question at least a million times. Not that he minded, the doctor didn’t know what he’d do without her.

“Oh,” the hybrid said, “Oh! And by the way Tina asked if I wanted to go with her to see a movie on Friday 6:30, is that alright?”

“If you’re feeling better by then, then of course,” he replied, plating the salad, “just make sure you call me, so I know you’re doing fine.”

Some salad and a tall glass of orange juice with a straw was placed in front of Macalla who then gave a “thanks dad” in return. Brainard had taken her out of school early because she was feeling sick and she didn’t have lunch yet. Being a microbat hybrid, Macalla’s dietary requirements were slightly different so when Brainard started to wean her off a milk formula he also started to incorporate edible bugs into his cooking. It wasn’t the most appealing at first, but he got used to it since he didn’t want Macalla to feel left out by eating a different meal than him. She also required blood, but it gave her a massive power boost if anything and wasn’t the most needed. _Still,_ the doctor thought, _she’s sick so I should get some later._ Macalla’s ears twitched when her father’s phone started buzzing. “It’s Tina,” he explained before picking up, “Hello?”

“Hi doctor,"

"Afternoon Tina, how are today?"

"I'm good thanks, but I just wanted to check how Mac is doing since she looked pretty sick at school, I didn’t call her directly in case she’s sleeping so I called you instead.”

“Ah I see... Not to worry, Mac is right here so I’ll just put you on speaker and let the two of you chat.” Considering Macalla’s extremely sensitive ears (which also replaced the function of her unusable eyes), putting the phone on speaker would’ve been a better option than pressing the source of sound completely against her ears. Brainard motioned that he was going to leave the room to give her some privacy and promptly left the kitchen.

 

Ah yes, the old days when Black Hat was still very much an active villain. Brainard remembered them far to clearly. The horrors, the thrills, he’d seen them all. His first century of service was awful, perhaps it was due to the absolute absurdity of how he got there in the first place, but nonetheless he remembered breaking down many times and the overlord promptly telling him to piece himself together because if anyone else saw they would’ve torn him apart already. He got used to it though and piece himself together he did. He also remembered his old colleagues who he hadn’t seen in person for a long time, presumably since they’ve died. He wasn’t quite sure on what had happened to Porphyria, Black Hat was very vague about her disappearance and nobody else knew what happened to her, young Collin, on the other hand, had taken up his position when the doctor’s immediate service was over and is now a fancy little paperweight that Black Hat had on his desk. There were others, but they hadn’t been around long enough for Brainard to remember them properly.

After he left employment in Black Hat Org. all he really had to do was/is still maintain a villainous lifestyle and to not get caught. Black Hat would most likely have killed him by now if he hadn’t and it was probably the only reason why he had enrolled Macalla into the various schools that Black Hat owned. Brainard needed to stay alive long enough to make sure that he can take care of Macalla long enough before she no longer needs him, managing to raise a child to adulthood would be enough for him to die a happy man.

This is why Brainard went to check the database to identify the two heroes he’d noticed spying on them while he was stuck in a conversation with the hat man. They saw Macalla. He’d need to keep an eye out for them again and start making preparations. If it was just a one-off encounter it brings the possibility of them reporting to the Department of Security and sending heroes after him and rehabilitate Macalla, eventually figuring out that Project Chimera hadn't completely failed. Another possibility would be them being assigned to spy on the doctor and possibly detain him too. No matter, he had 353 years of experience, he knew how to get people to talk. Brainard didn’t need to harm them, but he could use this as an opportunity to extract some blood for Macalla. A good scare should suffice for now, maybe even long enough for them to be out of their lives. If not, well… other measures can be taken. Brainard searched the database for profiles and medical histories to determine the dosage of anesthesia for the two heroes. Too much of it would be lethal, and although it’d be good if they were dead he’d at least need to know how much information they’ve spilled. The doctor then went rearrange the operating theatre and got a dividing screen and a couple of operating tables with restraints.


	4. "Rein in a horse at the edge of a cliff."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I was gonna upload this a bit earlier but kinda forgot ^^" thanks for being patient! Hits, kudos, comments and critique are all appreciated!
> 
> (Also the title is both a saying and a spoiler hehe....)

“Are you sure it was him?” Battle Bottle was alerted by a couple of shaken heroes to an apparent sighting of the infamous Lord Black Hat and an unknown child with Dr. Plague 

“Oh no,” Felix retorted, “It was just a couple of goats with a top hat and a plague doctor ma- OF COURSE IT WAS HIM! I KNOW THE BLOODY HAT MAN AND MR FLU FROM A GAGGLE OF GEESE!”

“Felix,” the hero sighed, “I love you, but the attitude really isn’t necessary at the moment. We’re all doing our jobs here so shut it. Anyway, you guys saw them when and where again?”

“Uh the place where Crown Street crosses with Hat Avenue at about 12:10pm I think,” Olivia replied in place of a very peeved Felix. 

“Right, well I’ll notify the others about this and we’ll try to get some CCTV footage later. In the meantime, you guys will need to provide a-”

“Statement and all that, we know.” 

“Righto then,” the hero puffed, “I’ll need you two to come with me then.”

 

_Time skip_

 

Felix huffed a bit as he strolled down the sidewalk. They paperwork took longer than expected but that was probably because he let Olivia leave early because it was her first day in the Department. He was pretty close to storming up and giving the doctor a piece of his own mind earlier, but he couldn’t given the circumstances. Felix had lost one of his friends when Dr. Plague last unleashed a disease to the world when they were kids, the symptoms were traumatising, and the mortality rate was high, many were infected. It truly was horrifying for children so young to stare in the face of uncertainty, everyone screamed about how the world was ending by the time the island had quarantined itself. He glanced at the time on the screen of his phone _9:48pm, I should tell Ma that I probably won’t be home until much later..._ And that he did. He sent a voice note on WeChat to his mother, asking if she’d like him to buy anything before coming home the following. Perhaps if he wasn’t so distracted by the events of the day then he would’ve heard the footsteps behind him. It was only when Felix saw the shadow of a figure raising a cane did he realise that he was being followed. Alas, he was too late to do anything and was met with nothing but a swift ‘THWACK!’ of the wooden cane to the side of his head before the world spun around him and blurred into blackness. 

Brainard had caught him just before he fell to the ground. The last thing the doctor needed was for the unconscious hero to suffer a concussion. He had to admit, it wasn’t his neatest job, but he had little notice. It was the easiest way anyway, chloroform being less glamorous then it seemed in flashy crime fiction movies and sleeping gas being a bit harder to dispense out in the open. At least he managed to knock the hero out before he could cry out for help or fight back, he would’ve definitely gotten away then… Brainard took a look at the phone knocked out of his, Felix if he remembered correctly, hands. It was still on and he listened to the messages:

_“Ma, wo keneng hui wang yidian. Wo kending hui zaoshang zai jia suoyi nimeng sieng shui.”_

_“Hao ba, xiaoxin_ _ci’ai_ ”

Brainard had to thank Felix for making his life easier. Pulling one of the hero’s arms over his shoulders, Brainard dragged him into an alleyway, imitating someone helping an overly intoxicated friend. He’d already taken care of the dove, now he just needed to get torch boy out of the way.

 

_Earlier_

 

Olivia struggled to open her eyes as she regained consciousness. The harsh lights certainly didn’t make it- wait. She didn’t remember her apartment lights being this bright. Olivia tried to stretch her arms to help herself wake up, only to find that they were pinned at her sides underneath a strap. She then saw that the same had applied to the rest of her body, rendering her immobile. Olivia started to hyperventilate a bit.

_Ok Liv, think. What happened?_

Distant footsteps started to approach.

_I was walking home after filling out a statement and Felix offered to finish the rest of the paperwork so I could leave earlier…_

A keypad beeped from outside.

_I was in the elevator with… a new tenant as well was it? He was polite and thanked me for keeping the door open a bit longer._

A door opened.

_I said goodbye and was right outside my apartment door and then… Something happened, and I blacked out… What was it?!_

Then there was what sounded like humming.

_No…_

She did her best to move her head to see who was there. The opaque lenses of a plague doctor mask stared back at her.

“I trust you slept well, Miss Arundel?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations of my attempt of "pinyin" without any of the tone marks whoops:  
> "Ma, I'm probably going to be a bit late. I'll definitely be back in the morning so you guys sleep first,"  
> "Ok then, take care love"  
> I apologise in advance to anyone who's more fluent in Chinese, if it helps I came last in background speakers when I had to take compulsory lessons when first starting high school :,) Battle Bottle (Along with the more well-known Justin Case) is one of the heroes mentioned being harmed in the making of the Rhyboflavin orientation video (if my memory is correct...)
> 
> Also, in case you're still wondering, the title is a Chinese proverb about only realising danger at the last moment, which is rather relevant in this case XD


	5. "Pouring Oil on a Fire is Not the Way to Quench It," Which Is Why You Use Water...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interrogations and a cat can be found in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead! :D I'm really sorry this took so long, I KINDA got caught up in exams week so....

“Oh my, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Did your parents warn you about the big bad doctor lurking in the shadows?”

The shock on Olivia’s face soon morphed into a scowl. 

“YOU!”

“Me? Yes, it’s me,” he responded nonchalantly, “I trust your parents are doing well?”

“Why should I tell you?!” She shouted from the gurney, “You tried to kill them!”

“Now, now, no need to be so harsh,” he feigned hurt, “Besides, I didn’t TRY to kill your parents, I was merely holding your father for ransom. It was Kathy’s idea to pull off the whole “storm the castle and rescue the damsel” and so I did what any competent villain would do and held my ground. The job is very tiring and stressful and all I needed was a holiday.”

“How does that make it any better?!”

“Well,” the doctor leaned over the gurney, “It simply means I’m more merciful than you’d expect. Or perhaps not, really depends on how you interpret it but that’s not important at the moment. No, what is important right now are the answers I seek.”

She blinked, “Answers?”

“Haven’t you heard of an interrogation?” The doctor simply shook his head in dismissal, “No matter, you’ll figure it out soon enough. I want you to tell me how much you’ve told the Department about your little outing earlier today.”

“Well ask all you want because you won’t be getting anything from me.” Olivia knew that if she bided her time long enough she’d be able to get out of the doctor’s lab, she’d have to figure it out in the meantime. Her train of thought was then interrupted by chuckling. 

“My, my, you really are your father’s daughter.” He went to a nearby table and picked up a Manila folder. When the first page of its contents was held before her eyes she realised it was a profile of her with set of fingerprints at the bottom. “I trust that you’re aware of the importance of one’s identity, which is why this would fetch a handsome price on the black market. Villains would soon know everything about you, your name, your family, your address, even your DNA,” to which he promptly held up multiple Ziploc bags, a few contained cotton swabs, one had hair samples, and another had a vial of blood, “They will hunt you down. If you’re a major figure they’d assassinate you in public to send a message. If you’re new, then the Org. will eliminate you before you’re a threat. So, what will it be then?”

“You’re sick,” She snarled. The doctor gasped. 

“Sick? Oh no! If only the pseudonym Dr. Plague wasn’t just used to sound flashy and I was actually a supervillain who engineers bioweapons and thus have their vaccines and cures, my legacy simply being dying ironically from the flu!” The lenses of the mask then proceeded the look her dead in the eyes. “I think you’ll find that I am mostly sound of mind, however circumstances and perspectives vary from person to person.”

“Fine then,” Olivia huffed, “I told the Department of Security that you kidnaped a kid and they’re now tracking you and soon before you know it they’ll have you locked up after they kick your ass.”

There was silence. Then rapturous laughter. 

“IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE TO YOU?!”

“Eh, you? Perhaps. The Department however,” he chuckled, “now THAT is a giant joke, the biggest joke in all of Hat Island. By now they’ve all given up on trying to achieve the impossible, but they still have the whole “Let’s liberate the capital” in mind for some reason.”

“They’re going to notice I’m missing eventually.”

“Ah well, they’d just replace you when they think you’re dead.”

“Excuse me?!”

The doctor merely sighed, “You really are a naive one, aren’t you? Well, I heard that there was a sidekick program in various schools, such as Balmoral High, correct? They don’t have to pay the students who participate, and it gives them a larger guarantee that they’ll have a constant flow of heroes through the kids they brainwash.”

“Like that kid you kidnaped?”

He paused. 

“And how can you be so sure of that?” The doctor inquired.

“Uh the last time I checked you weren’t married,” Olivia noted, “and people haven’t exactly spotted you with children.”

“Oh really?” He cocked his head to the side, “And what if I had a bastard who was recently put under my custody? What if I adopted or fostered?”

“Who in their right mind would allow YOU to raise a child?” Olivia spat. 

“Obviously I,” was all that came from a him. 

 

_Present_

 

“LET ME GO!” Felix roared as he strained against the restraints, trying multiple times to self-immolate but ultimately failing.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, so rude,” the doctor mocked, “You’re failing to spark as you’ve been sprayed with an extinguishing agent. I just need a few answers, ‘tis all,”

“Go to HELL you BASTARD!” The young hero was clearly unwilling to cooperate.

“My, my, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“SHUT UP!”

“Fine,” the doctor sighed, “Then I won’t let you out of here. Good luck trying to stay warm in the meantime, judging by how much energy you’re using I’d say you wouldn’t last long. Pity, we all die so young, a mere speck in the history of this world. Some faster than others.”

“What, you say that because you’re in like what, your 80s?” Felix scoffed, old people were known to get sentimental.

“No, I’m twenty-eight,” his tone was sarcastic, but the doctor knew it wasn’t entirely false. Another perk of the job was eternal youth and immortality for as long as the hat man saw fit, but it also acted as a very slow death.  
“Ha-ha, VERY funny,” Felix drawled. He then noticed the doctor wheel a rather odd apparatus over his head, consisting of a bucket and a piece of string. “Wait what are you doing?”  
“It’s called Chinese water torture,” the doctor stated as water started to drip on the hero’s face, “It won’t exactly kill you, but that doesn't mean it won't break you.”

“Seriously?” Felix scoffed, “It’s annoying if anything.”

“Ok then, I’ll just catch up on reading in the meantime,” the doctor then proceeded to bring a chair next to the gurney. He adjusted his cape and then sat down with a novel in hand, opening _The Art of War_ to chapter twelve.

_Time Skip_

Felix huffed, squinting his eyes to avoid water splashing in them. _Drip, drip, drip._ He wasn’t quite sure what to do as the water would be another barrier to being able to use his powers. _Drip, drip, drip._ He tried to imagine that he was back home, that family friends were over and his mother and “aunties” were _drip_ making dumplings while his dad played chess _drip_ over some tea, but every time he felt that he could fade away, the damn dripping brought him back to the godawful theatre, with a plague doctor next to him and the miasma of cleaning alcohol and god knows what hovering around him. _Drip, drip, drip._ He was powerless, he told his mother that he would be home later so there was no need for concern, no one would come find him and then Felix realised he was completely at the mercy of the doctor. _Drip, drip, drip._ He screamed.

 

Olivia woke up to something soft brushing against her face. Thankfully, it was just Clawde Depussy the Persian cat. Looking around, Olivia found herself in her apartment’s bedroom. Clawde’s mewing reminded her that she hadn’t fed him yet, so she got up in a hurry. She was greeted with a half-empty bowl at the bottom of the kitchen counter. Olivia decided to search the rest of the apartment, finding ultimately nothing except a note. 

_Miss Arundel,_

_Don’t think you’re off the hook yet. I’ll be keeping an eye out in case you decide to go blabbing to the Department again, which from what I’ve observed is very likely. Heroes may be gigantic idiots, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid. On another note, you have a lovely cat, do take good care of him._

_Dr. P_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, funny story. My piano teacher decided to once make a joke about naming a cat Clawde/Clawed? Depussy (playing on the name of the French composer Claude Debussy) and it just kinda stuck. Also a balmoral is a type of hat and judging by Hat Island's naming conventions, I decided to name one of its suburbs Balmoral. Anywho, thank you all for reading, kudos, etc. they mean a lot to me!


	6. The Beginning of a Day and a Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack I am so sorry that this took so long, I got writer's block about halfway through the chapter haha. Hope you guys all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! Now on with the fic!

Tina readjusted her tie as her dad rang the doorbell while her older brother waited in the car, uninterested. The doctor had called them last night, requesting that they’d pick Macalla up since he was a bit caught up with something else. She wanted to look presentable to her girlfriend and her adoptive father at least. Tina was then caught off guard by the rattling of the doorknob, the contents of what it helped to hide was revealed to be the hybrid.

“Hi Tina,” She then turned towards to the former’s father, “Morning Mr. Skygge.”

“Ah Macalla, how many times must I tell you? Alarick is fine,” the werewolf chuckled. Tina, who had inherited her father’s lycanthropy, decided to fill in the gap, “So are you feeling better today?”

“Yeah, it was just a new strain of the flu,” she shrugged, “Most of it is gone by now thanks to dad but he wants me to take care of the rest. By the way, thanks for picking me up m- Alarick.”

“Anytime Mac, now who’s ready to go to school?”

The two girls simply groaned in unison, the thought of going to Black Hat’s hellish academy already something they hated, before laughing at the other’s reaction. Nat was alerted to the sound of his younger sister and her girlfriend laughing and looked out of the car window to the scene. Disgusted by the lovey-doviness that followed suit, he morphed the shadows inside the car to black-out the windows.

 

Meanwhile, Olivia stepped into the Department’s building, as well as the scene unfolding in its foyer.

“Please calm yourself ma’am,” the receptionist said as she tried to comfort a hysterical woman.

“My son is missing!” She sobbed, “Please I need to speak to someone!”

“Ms. Hua you know that these things take a while,” the receptionist nervously glanced around, trying to find something to dissolve the situation, “Why don’t you take a seat first, I’ll let Justin Case know you’re here.”

The lady sniffled as she shuffled to one of the nearby seats, clutching a photo in her hands. Olivia glanced at the lady before heading to the desk to sign in.

“What was that all about?” She whispered to the receptionist. The lady behind the desk merely sighed and shook her head,

“That’s PyroFighter’s mother. He didn’t arrive home on time and she’s starting to worry.” She took another glance at the lady in the chair. “We can’t classify him as missing yet since it hasn’t been a whole day, so we’ll have to wait. In the meantime, you’re gonna be on your own today since there’s not enough heroes that you can tag along with so feel free to either take a day off or go get an assignment from one of the supers.”

Olivia nodded slowly and glanced once again at the weeping woman, before walking away from the desk to the mother of the missing hero.

“Excuse me Ms., my name is Olivia Arundel and I’m meant to be tagging along with your son.” She took a breath to compose her thoughts, “I may be new, but I promise, I’ll do everything I can to get him back.”

 

The doctor observed the weary hero. The lad cracked after an hour and a half into the interrogation, but the doctor had kept him around a bit longer to lower his morale even further. Deciding that all the information was enough and that the hero wouldn’t be too much of a threat, he administered the anaesthesia and prepared to drop him off. He’ll have two heroes to observe, but it gave him something else to do. If anything went wrong? Well then, he had a new strain of swine flu to test out. He took another glance at the young hero as he wheeled him out of the operating theatre. 26 years old, not much younger than when he first started working for Black Hat. Perhaps, maybe in another lifetime could’ve been different. Sure, he would’ve been more ignorant and wouldn’t have had a chance to raise Macalla, but maybe it would’ve been better if he wasn’t around. Regardless, life decided to be cruel, so it seemed only fair that he would be cruel back.

 

Justin Case rubbed his temples in frustration.

“Ok,” he sighed, “Let me get this straight, TranQuillity. So, you believe that not only has PyroFighter gone missing, but that he was kidnaped by Dr. Plague because he kidnaped you earlier for eavesdropping.”<

“You forgot the part about how it could be about kidnaping a ki- “

“Dear GOD Arundel, we know already!” the hero sharply exhaled, “Look, even if he kidnaped someone, it wouldn’t be the first time and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.”

Olivia’s frustration reached breaking point, which she released by slamming her hands onto the hero’s desk. “So, we’re gonna sit on asses all day then?!”  
Justin was clearly going to have none of this,

“You know that’s not what h- “

“Oh, but I do!” Cutting the hero off before he could finish, “After all, my MOTHER had to go do something about my father because all you guys ever do is try to do is take action hiding behind your desks! Well guess what? It’s not working! No wonder saving Hatsville is seen as the biggest joke amongst villains! Maybe if you took things more seriously then there could be some bloody change!”

By this stage Justin had enough of it, barely contained rage oozing into the atmosphere, “Fine. Fine then. You want to be taken seriously, huh?” The hero got up and walked to a filing cabinet. After some flicking, he took out a Manila folder which was promptly thrown onto the desk. Some of its contents spilled out, revealing newspaper clippings, a profile and a blurry photo of none other than Dr. Plague. “Well here’s a big job for you, you’ll now be in charge of apprehending him. Just don’t expect me to feel guilty when they wheel you into the morgue.” Olivia stood dumbfounded before a grin formed on her face, proceeding to zip out of the room with the folder in hand. Justin Case sank into his seat, that girl was going to fail, hopefully it’ll teach her a lesson. _If she was even still going to be around that is..._ the hero thought grimly.


	7. Planning Ahead (and the lack of it...)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sun's out, guns out

Olivia giggled as she zipped across the streets, examining her latest acquired item. Although there wasn’t a whole lot of information, there was enough for her to get a bigger picture of the villain. Dr. Plague had been active for a LONG time, a former employee of Black Hat Org. Although he no longer works there, he still attended gatherings and had consultations. Besides pandemics and outbreaks, intelligence gathered that he was also responsible for the demise of Project Chimera, practically slaughtering the staff on that fateful night in 2004. Olivia vaguely remembered her parents discussing the incident in hushed voices, but she was more focused on trying to beat her younger brother in a round of Snakes and Ladders at the time. She’d have to do more digging regarding the subject, but in the meantime, she had a doctor to catch!

 

Elsewhere in the city, emergency services were called regarding the sudden outburst of a house fire. As it turned out, the hero PyroFighter was back home, but due to earlier events he’d been left very much on edge before he even woke up and a nightmare was enough to trigger the inferno. When he realised the scale of how severe it was, Felix cringed when he considered how he was going to explain himself to the Department and his mother.

 

Meanwhile, Brainard had just finished applying foundation onto the discoloured flesh that came with scars. It didn’t solve the fact that the affected tissue still stuck out a bit, but it made it less noticeable. He had nothing much to do that morning, so brunch it was at one of the nearby cafes. Checking that the brown-coloured eye contacts were in place, he packed a box of chocolates along with his wallet, phone and plague doctor outfit, neatly folded in a cloth bag. Brainard planned on stopping by the Brunfelsia Boutique, which was run by the former villain Petunia Skygge, who preferred to design and make outfits and accessories rather than having to use them. She and Alarick had always been warm towards Macalla since she and Tina first knew each other, and it was only appropriate if he expressed his gratitude for their help with words and sweets. Besides, his outfit needed repair. Tears had started to form along the seams and the leather of the mask needed to be oiled. After all of that was done, a bit grocery shopping. Fresh produce, black pudding, eggs, tea and disposable drinking pouches (which he used to store blood for Macalla to bring to school) were needed, and then the doctor would be back home for lunch. Satisfied with his plan, Brainard grabbed his satchel and keys and stepped out of the house, locking the door behind him.

 

Olivia decided that the best plan of action was to soar above the streets of Hatsville, scouring them for any sign of villains, only to find out that she had no idea where she was after a few minutes. The buildings blocked her view, so she landed in an alleyway and decided to navigate from there. It was pretty dark, the walls were covered in various pieces of graffiti, but the heroine ignored them and trudged forward. She was just about to go through a crossroad ( _how odd for an alley_ , she noted) when an arm roughly jerked her back.

“LET ME GO!” Olivia retaliated by punching the offender square in the face. When she went to get a better look, she realised it was a man, not much older than herself. Surprisingly, there was not a scratch on him. “What the HELL was that for?!”

“Well,” the man brushed himself off, “you’d have to be insane to walk straight into Sharpshooter territory.” He gestured towards the graffiti, there was a blue eye spray painted onto the walls, the pupil, which was stylised as a gun vector, was surrounded by a series of rings. The words “No Angels Allowed” were written underneath. “Trust me, they NEVER miss.” By the time the information registered in Olivia, she also realised that the man’s voice and British accent was rather familiar, and promptly held him up by his throat.

“What the HELL do you want, doctor? And by the way, this suit is bulletproof, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference on my life if you didn’t stop me, so why did you? Also, where is PyroFighter?”

He wheezed out a chuckle.

“So many questions,” he rasped. Olivia proceeded to drop him so that he’d speak a bit clearer. “1. Not much besides what was in my note, meeting you here was a coincidence, 2. You heroes have outdated suits. Weapons from the Org. will tear through it like it was merely a tissue, 3. Why should a gang get all the fun? And finally, he’s home, don’t worry I didn’t hurt him physically at least.”

Olivia was a bit confused, “Wait, what do you mean my suit is outdated?”

The doctor responded by plucking her mask off her face (to which she responded with an attempt to cover he now exposed area with her hands) and heading to the cross section, mask in hand, picking up an empty wine bottle and sticking some stray newspaper into it. When he got to the cross section, he then proceeded to throw the bottle to his right, only to be met with a shower of bullets that ripped right through him. Olivia stood in slight horror, there was no way he could have survived it and yet, somehow, he did. He then proceeded to pick himself up, shouting something along the lines of, “Send the big shot the doctor’s regards,” and walked back. When he returned, he handed back the mask. Olivia was told that her suit and all its accessories were beyond bulletproof and yet, here it was, a mask riddled with bullet holes.

“If it helps,” he interrupted her train of thought, “I’m heading to a place with far superior material. I WAS planning on stopping by for a nearby coffee first but,” he looked down at his now pockmarked clothing, “It seems that I have matters of fabrics to attend to first. Feel free to trail behind if you wish.” And with that, he gave a short wave and walked a bit further up the alley, stopping at a door right next to the intersection. Olivia decided to see for herself if what the doctor advertised was true and followed behind. A couple of pots of flowers flanked the door, the colour of the blooms from both plants ranging from white to various shades of purple. After admiring the tricoloured blossoms, Olivia was greeted with a florally cursive sign on the door, proudly announcing “The Brunfelsia Boutique”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were confused:  
> Whilst the phrase "No Angels Allowed" can be used to refer to heroes, it also refers to a rival gang known as The Fallen Angels who, back in the years of Prohibition especially, were known to chuck Molotov cocktails. The boss of the Sharpshooters (who is the same one since its formation in the Roaring Twenties and has an unhealthy obsession with guns) has also known BH for quite some time, seeing him as a role model from childhood, but I doubt you'll see him much in this fic (maybe in a less canon-compliant Villainous one). 
> 
> Also thank god for Brainard's immortality and instant healing (when whatever hurt him isn't making anymore contact at least), he's got haemophilia so he would've left a mess (jk)
> 
> Thank you guys so much for 130+ hits btw! Hits, kudos and critiques are all much appreciated! ^^


	8. The Brunfelsia Boutique and Interrogation Round 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Olivia is gets a new suit and a cup of coffee

A small bell rang as the door opened, revealing a quaint room. The walls were painted white, contrasting with the deep purple carpet. Mannequins and pastel lavender furniture were scattered about and a Black Hat Organisation poster was on one of the walls, watching over the main room and surrounded by various photo frames of notable customers, all of them no doubt extremely high up on the Department’s “Most Wanted” list. Olivia could recognise a couple of the supervillains instantaneously, namely Poker Face and Dark Phantom. A bright peal of laughter alerted Olivia to the counter, its source being a woman with platinum blond hair and piercing green eyes.

“Oh Brainard, you’re too kind!”

“Nonsense,” he waved a hand in dismissal to further emphasise his point, “The least I can do for your help is a bit of sugar, Macalla loves your family!”

Before the woman could retort, she noticed Olivia standing by the door.

“Oh my! I’m terribly sorry for not noticing you standing over there!” The woman fussed while a couple of snickers came from the doctor’s direction, earning him a small glare. “How may I help you today?”

“Actually Petunia,” he interrupted, “This is an acquaintance of mine. Olivia this is Petunia Skygge, Petunia meet Olivia Arundel. I suggested coming to your place for accessories and whatnot as she’s new on the scene.”

“Oh! Why didn’t you say so?” Before Olivia even had any time to respond, the woman, Petunia apparently, was already examining the current suit she had on. She muttered a few words in a foreign language she couldn’t quite identify whilst feeling the material on her arm, “You didn’t happen to go to one of those hero manufacturers, did you?”

“Ummm... yes?” Olivia was surprised by her hesitance, “It was the only place I knew of, heh”

“Tsk, of course,” she scoffed, “Those damn heroes think they can take all the glory, well where would they be without us, hm?” The change of tone was off-putting to say the least. In fact, she could say the DAY was off-putting as here she was, in a store with a couple of villains. “Not to worry, you’re in good hands now!” She then proceeded to hurry through a door behind the counter, leaving Olivia in the company of a certain doctor.

“Lovely day isn’t it?”

“Ok first of all, how the HELL are you still alive?!” Olivia had every right to ask, it wasn’t every day you would find someone get riddled with bullets and return without a trace of them besides some blood on their clothes.

Brainard merely shrugged,

“Immortality and a few other things you get from selling your soul.” Petunia then emerged from the room with some measuring tape and grabbed a clipboard before hustling a very confused Olivia with her into a nearby room behind a nearby curtain. She looked back at the doctor for some sort of sign of help, but he merely gave a small wave before heading over to some nearby racks.

 

* * *

 

“Alright, arms out,” Petunia practically sang. Olivia complied, and the measuring tape was brought up.

“So, have you always designed suits for villains?” The atmosphere was really awkward for Olivia, so she hoped to distract herself with some banter.

“Hm? Oh no, I used to do some fighting myself,” she laughed as she wrote down the first set of measurements, “That’s how I met my husband back in Copenhagen.”

“You’re from Denmark?” Why anyone would move to Hat Island was beyond her knowledge.

“Mmhm, we moved to Hatsville since there was a larger population of villains that could be supplied and so that our son could learn a few tricks of the trade.”

“Oh,” _guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree then..._ “How many kids do you have?”

“Just two, Nat is 16 and Tina is 14,” she smiled fondly at the thought of them, “They’re both in Lord Black Hat’s academy, Tina’s in most of Macalla’s classes.”

“They must be close,” she mused despite having no idea who Macalla was, before being met by laughter from Petunia,

“Well of course they’re close, they’re dating!” Olivia felt her face heat up in embarrassment as her ignorance was acknowledged, “You must be REALLY new then, Macalla is all the doctor talks about.”

“Yeah... so far he’s just been helping me establish relations and stuff,” the lie slipped right off her tongue.

“Well,” Petunia said as she straightened herself to eye level, clicking the pen in her hand, giving a strong sense of finality, “You truly are a lucky one, Brainard has some of the best connections in the entire island, if not the world. In fact, you’re bound to make more in the next gathering.”

_Gathering?_

“Heh,” she gave a nervous laugh instead of a question as she processed the information, “guess I am...”

“Well then, any particular colours you’d like or are you going to stick with...” Petunia motioned to her current suit, causing Olivia to snap out of her trance.

“Oh! Well I’d like to keep the current colours and all that. No one suspects a villain in lighter colours!” To Olivia’s relief, Petunia agreed with her.

“Right then, well your new suit should be ready in about...” She tapped the pen lightly against the clipboard, “Two and a half weeks.” Olivia nodded in understanding, before remembering her broken mask on her face. Petunia cut her off, “The mask will be taken care of too. Just come back here by then.”

 

* * *

 

About half an hour later, two figures emerged from the boutique. The first being a woman in an blue ankle length skirt and a white sleeveless top, the second being a man whose clothes lacked bullet holes.

“Don’t look so glum,” Brainard remarked, “Think of this as an... educational experience.”

Olivia merely huffed in response, “Fine, if it lets me understand why people would be crazy enough to sell their souls and whatever is going on that brain of yours.”

“Trust me, dove,” he chuckled, “I’d be more than delighted to ramble on about the latest advances I've made with asymptomatic raven vectors and prions.”

 

 

The cafe they arrived at, appropriately name Le Petit Café, was situated in a shady spot of a leafy avenue. Fortunately for Olivia, the word “shady” only referred to the literal shade as the cafe was owned and run by a civilian, or “civi” as supers would call them. Two orders of coffee later, Olivia found herself sitting face to face with the man she had to apprehend. Of course, she couldn’t exactly apprehend him now as the lack of any visible signs of his profession didn’t make him any less dangerous, which is why she took the effort to scrutinise the entire journey of the steaming cup of caffeine. The only thing she got out of that, however, was a look of discomfort from the waiter and a chuckle out of Brainard.

“What?” Was all that she responded with after the two cups were set down.

“Well,” he sighed, “With a look like that, one could suspect that you’ve got a large bounty on your head.” He then proceeded to pull out a small aerosol can, like that used to store mace or pepper spray, from his bag. “If it helps, my latest pandemic-in-progress is right here.”

Olivia stared at him, “You disgust me...”

“Relax, I’m pulling your leg,” he put the can down and took another sip, “It’s not my latest disease prototype, it’s a nerve agent.”

Olivia sat there dumbfounded, how could someone be so nonchalant about something so dangerous? But all the man did was breath a small sigh of content as he warmed his hands with the steaming cup. “So, tell me, what do you want know first?”

She didn’t even hesitate when she asked, “Who’s the kid?”

“Of course,” he mused, “My adopted daughter. Petunia probably brought her up since our daughters are currently dating. Believe it or not, she’s not my first child either.”

“Wait how old are you?”

“Forever 28.”

“Oh… Um...” Olivia pouted a bit as she tries to think of a more useful question, “Petunia mentioned some kind of gathering, could you elaborate on that?”

“Ah... that...” Brainard took a gulp of coffee before sighing again, “Just another one of the Org’s little parties. The Hat Man likes to inspect his prey so to speak.” Whatever proceeded to enter his mind caused Brainard’s eyes to widen before he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, “Sweet hats, if Petunia mentioned it then it means that about half of Hatsville is going to know that there’s a newcomer to the Org by day’s end, including the those who run it.”

“Wait what?!” Olivia couldn’t believe what she was hearing, being associated with villains?!

“Don’t get me wrong, she’s a lovely person. Petunia is just a bit... chatty to say the least,” Brainard’s eyes flickered over to a nearby clock, “Well, I’ll be out of your hair now. I have work to do.”

“Wait a minute! You need to tell me what you mean, and there’s no way I’m paying for th- “

“No need, it’s already done.” Olivia cocked a brow out of suspicion before the receipt was handed to her. To her surprise, the man she was wary about had paid the bill.

 _It’s nothing Liv, it’s just a tactic for him to take advantage of your trust..._ Her mind scowled at her, causing her to crush the receipt in her hand until it was nothing more than a speck of dust.

“Well, it was lovely chatting with you Miss Arundel,”  _If only I could say the same, bastard..._ “I’ll see you on the battlefield.” And with that, the Doctor left. That is, with a pair of eyes metaphorically burning a hole into the back of his skull.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were confused: Dark Phantom and Poker Face are both background villains from the actual show, the latter having been introduced as a highly respected and feared villainess in the latest video.
> 
> I'M BACK BABY! Sorry this took so long, school's started again and oh boy! New year! New stress! But on the flip side, we've reached over 150 hits! As usual all hits, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated, thank you all!

**Author's Note:**

> Whooooo! First fic on AO3! Anyways, I’ll try to update as often as I can but I can’t make guarantees because school whoops. Idk what to type here so have this, this is gonna centre around more minor villains and heroes (although Dr Plague is p well known in this universe being BH’s former scientist, although most don’t really think of him that much since he isn’t the most active). That is all I have to say for now!


End file.
